As you know, I recently visited the headquarters of Tropicana. I requested you all send in your questions so we could all learn more about the company and their products. You all sent in fabulously curious questions! As the Tropicana PR officials tweeted during the meeting:

TropicanaOJ: We’re currently answering some great questions from Totally Her readers. Wow, you guys were engaged. We appreciate it.

I sure learned a lot thanks to all of your detailed questions. I’ve divided up the question and answer list into three categories: Health Questions, Product & Process Questions, and Green Questions. I hope you enjoy learning the answers as much as I did.

Health Questions:

Why take out the pulp? Isn’t orange juice healthier with the pulp?

Pulp contains no additional nutritional value and no fiber. In fact, the amount of fiber within pulp is so unbelievably minuscule that by the USDA regulations Tropicana cannot even claim there is any fiber in their orange juices with pulp. The fiber within an orange is found in the peel so if you peel an orange and eat some of the white outer layer you are getting fiber, but the orange innards do not contain fiber. The pulp within orange juice comes from the pulp sacs that hold the orange juice within the orange. Tropicana makes different kinds of pulp or non-pulp orange juices since people have preferences when it comes to the texture of their orange juice. However, the amount of pulp in orange juice makes no nutritional difference.

What makes orange juice superior to a vitamin C tablet?

As Joy Dubost, RD, PhD “Resident Registered Dietitian” (Principal Nutritionist for Tropicana and PepsiCo) told me, nutritionists advise that it is best to get your vitamins from foods. She pointed out that getting your nutrition from natural foods is wise because these foods have vitamins and minerals that interact well with each other for most effective utilization of the nutrition within your body.

Does Tropicana add vitamins to its juice in order to make it even healthier?

Yes to some of the varieties. For example: Tropicana Pure Premium Calcium plus Vitamin D has been fortified with the calcium and vitamin D to give you the same levels per glass of this orange juice as you would get from a glass of milk.

Does the flash pasteurization of the orange juice reduce the nutritional content of the orange juice from when it was originally oranges?

Joy Dubost, RD, PhD had a very simple answer. “No. It does not change the nutritional content at all.”

Why pasteurize the orange juice?

Pasteurization increases the shelf life of the orange juice. When you make fresh orange juice at home it has a very short shelf life. Flash pasteurization maintains the freshness, the flavor, and the nutrition of the orange juice while prolonging its shelf life up to 63 days. Once opened the shelf life of a carton of Tropicana orange juice is 7 to 10 days.

Is pasteurization a standard procedure?

Yes. The same is done to milk and other juices. It is for the safety of the consumer.

What tests are run on the juice to make sure it is safe?

Numerous tests are done on the products including bacteria tests to make sure the product is safe. Not only does Tropicana have their standards that must be met, but every single truck load must pass government regulations as well. Furthermore, every batch of the orange juice is carefully tracked so if anything at all were to go wrong it would be easily tracked to which batch and where that batch is. The orange juice is even tracked when transported. The railcars are monitored by GPS to make sure the refrigerated temperature stays at the necessary level to maintain the quality and safety of the product. A multitude of precautions are taken to ensure the safety of Tropicana orange juice.

Fruit is good for you, but how much fruit (or juice) is bad for you?

Joy Dubost, RD, PhD said that there’s no such thing as too much fruit. However, the group of Tropicana officials chimed in, “If you can’t leave the bathroom you’ve had too much fruit.” Joy laughed and agreed at that point you’ve had enough fruit and it’s time to eat servings from the other healthy food groups. And Andrew Hartshorn, Tropicana marketing, added, “100 bananas in one day is too much fruit.”

However, most Americans only average 1 serving of fruit a day. So the likelihood of eating too much fruit is highly unlikely. The truth is, we all need to be eating more fruit.

Product and Process Questions:

When I squeeze an orange for juice, the juice’s color and consistency is totally different from Tropicana Pure Premium juice. Why is that?

Two reasons. First, Tropicana Pure Premium is made from a special blend of Hamlin, Pineapple Sweet, and / or Valencia oranges. Most common grocery oranges are actually Naple oranges. Second, the pasteurization deactivates the enzymes causing the juice to dehomogenize, meaning the juice doesn’t separate and settle, instead it blends evenly.

What sets Tropicana apart from other brands?

Tropicana Pure Premium is not made from concentrate like other orange juices. It is made by squeezing fresh oranges, flash pasteurizing the juice (heating it up fast and then cooling it down just as quickly), and then packaging it. (Some varieties also include adding nutrients or pulp to the juice.)

Also, for every 10 oranges used in Tropicana’s orange juice, nine and a half came from Florida and the other one half came from Brazil. The only reason Tropicana does get oranges from Brazil is as a back up for hurricane season in Florida. But it’s still impressive that the majority come from American soil.

There are also a number of environmental and business practices that set Tropicana apart from other brands. Keep reading to find out more!

Has Tropicana ever thought about making dehydrated or frozen products?

Tropicana prides itself on making juice that is closest to fresh squeezed orange juice, not made from concentrate (concentrate is when the water is taken out during the process then added back in). Therefore making concentrate juice is not their specialty.

Has Tropicana ever thought about making dried fruit?

Tropicana did make a dried fruit roll product but it did not sell well and therefore was discontinued.

How many oranges does it take to make a carton of orange juice?

18 oranges

Tropicana has a long history. Has the recipe for the orange juice changed in that time?

It changes daily. The exact blend of the orange juice is adjusted every day based on the batch of oranges and their unique chemistry. This is determined by people, not machines, who are experts with years and years of experience, who interpret the information they have on the oranges and adjust the recipe to perfection based on what is needed that very day. The blend is not an exact recipe, it is an art form.

Does Tropicana do daily swabs throughout their facilities and test those in a lab to ensure their sanitization has been done properly?

I got a very definite “YES” on this question. They take sanitization and safety very seriously.

Tropicana has international locations. Do all of the locations use the same processes and are held to the same standards as the US locations?

Once again, a very firm, “YES.”

Green Questions:

What steps has Tropicana taken to be more environmentally friendly?

Tropicana has taken so many steps to be more environmentally friendly. They were the first to use refrigerated rail cars to transport their product to distribution centers. Each railcar is three times more energy efficient than a truck, thereby substantially reducing carbon emissions from transport. Speaking of carbon footprint, Tropicana was the first product to be carbon certified with its exact carbon footprint precisely measured down to what each carton of orange juice causes. They have taken steps to lower this environmental impact. For starters, their Fort Pierce plant is mostly powered by landfill gases. On a grander scale, Tropicana has a huge carton recycling initiative in force. To see if orange juice cartons can be recycled in your area check out: www.werecyclecartons.com. If not, rest assured that Tropicana is doing everything to expand the amount of recycling facilities that recycle cartons.

What steps have been taken to make the packaging of Tropicana product more environmentally friendly?

As mentioned, the carton recycling initiative is in full force. Obviously, the products sold in plastic can be recycled. However, biodegradable packaging is in the works, but won’t be available for some time. So be sure to recycle in the mean time.

Does Tropicana use natural cleaners in sanitizing their production systems?

The oranges are cleaned in Phosphoric acid. The production line is cleaned in sodium hydroxide.

What is Tropicana doing for the community?

The most notable effort Tropicana is making is their Rescue the Rainforest involvement. Every carton of Tropicana Pure Premium orange juice comes with a code you can enter on www.tropicanarainforest.com which will then save 100 square feet of rainforest. To date 57,119,100 square feet have been saved.

Why help save the rainforest? Tropicana saw that the fastest way to make an impact on the environment is to help save the rainforest. The carbon footprint from deforestation is overwhelmingly massive, let alone the numerous other devastating effects from losing rainforest land. While there are many other causes out there, Tropicana did the math and found out that the biggest amount of impact for the money being spent towards the cause could be made by rescuing rainforest land. So help in the cause by entering your codes!

What does Tropicana do with all the orange rinds after the juice is made?

Half of the weight of an orange comes from its peel. That’s why it is so important to Tropicana to make the most of every orange. The remains from the oranges after the juice is made is dried and turned into cattle feed. Two forms are made, bulk feed and feed pellets. The cattle feed is then sold to cattle ranchers in Europe. Why Europe? There is a lot of competition for cow feed suppliers in the United States, whereas Europe has fewer options. It’s a case of supply and demand and the demand is greater in Europe.

Whew! I bet that is more information about Tropicana then you ever thought you’d learn. However, if you have additional questions feel free to leave them in the comments and I will do my best to get the answers for you. Now go enjoy your favorite orange juice and rest assured now that you know so much about it!